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Stevenson Sylvester and DeMarcus Van Dyke on Notice

According to one site that should not be named both Stevenson Sylvester and DeMarcus Van Dyke are in danger of being benched after multiple special teams infractions. Special teams were flagged 5 times in the Bengals games negating some impressive runbacks by Brown.

Sylvester in particular has been very unspecial since returning from injury. I know some posters are high on Sylvester but at this point he has a long row to hoe before getting out of Tomlin's D-house.

According to one site that should not be named both Stevenson Sylvester and DeMarcus Van Dyke are in danger of being benched after multiple special teams infractions. Special teams were flagged 5 times in the Bengals games negating some impressive runbacks by Brown.

Sylvester in particular has been very unspecial since returning from injury. I know some posters are high on Sylvester but at this point he has a long row to hoe before getting out of Tomlin's D-house.

The Steelers' DeMarcus Van Dyke was called for holding against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium Oct. berger staying upright in Haley’s new offense

Throwing around words such as “egregious” and “repeat offenders,” Mike Tomlin sounded more like a judge than a football coach.

He’s not about to go soft on those he finds guilty.

Tomlin is running out of patience with all the penalties on Steelers’ special teams. Four were called Sunday in Cincinnati, all for holding, that cost the Steelers 94 yards’ worth of returns.

The most costly mistake was a holding penalty by DeMarcus Van Dyke that wiped out a 33-yard punt return by Antonio Brown to the Bengals’ 44. The Steelers were pushed back to their 13, and Ben Roethlisberger fumbled to set up a Bengals touchdown on the next play.

In Oakland, a Brown punt return for an apparent touchdown was nullified by penalties for blocking below the waist and holding.

“We believe we have some dynamic return men,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “Penalties negated that effort. What is going on in our return game from a penalty standpoint is disturbing.”

The Steelers fired special teams coordinator Al Everest just before the season began and replaced him with assistant Amos Jones, yet they already have 11 special teams penalties for 102 yards.

“To be quite honest with you, the multiple offenders and egregious offenders are going to be watching as opposed to playing as soon as we get some options as to who plays and who doesn’t,” Tomlin said. “Right now, with injuries, we have minimal options.”

Van Dyke has three holding penalties in the past two games, plus an earlier penalty for going out of bounds while playing a punt. Stevenson Sylvester has two holding calls. Ike Taylor, Jason Worilds and Will Allen all have one penalty each; Adrian Robinson had one nullified.

Tomlin hopes that losing a job will serve as a deterrent to younger players trying to make their way in the NFL.

“You can take the helmet off them and have them watch,” Tomlin said. “That’s what we intend to do if they don’t improve in that area.”

Overall, Taylor is the most-penalized Steelers player with seven penalties for 107 yards. Left guard Willie Colon has six for 50 yards.

Not since Jackie Chiles last defended Kramer has the word “egregious” been used consecutively to the media. Mike Tomlin did it Tuesday at his weekly press conference.

Mike Tomlin issued a warning to the special-teamers responsible for 12 penalties in the last four games, including five Sunday night in Cincinnati:

“What’s going on in the return game from a penalty standpoint is disturbing. The multiple offenders or egregious offenders are going to be watching as opposed to playing as soon as we get a few options.”

By “options,” Tomlin was meant players who will be coming back from injuries. He can even choose from players currently on the practice squad.

The five penalties Sunday night cost the Steelers 115 yards in field position, and none of the penalties appeared to have helped the runner. The costliest penalty was a hold by DeMarcus Van Dyke early in the second quarter that negated an Antonio Brown return to the Cincinnati 44. Instead, the ball was placed 43 yards back at the Pittsburgh 13.

“We believe we have some dynamic return men,” Tomlin said of Brown and Chris Rainey. “Penalties negated that effort.”

After committing one penalty on special teams in the first two games, the Steelers have since committed a dozen. Van Dyke is the most “egregious offender” with four. Stevenson Sylvester has two. Seven others – including one that wasn’t assigned – were blamed on six other individuals.

So apparently the players on the hot seat are Van Dyke and Sylvester.

What can Tomlin do?

“You can take the helmet off of them and have them watch,” he said. “That’s what we intend to do if they don’t improve in that area. They’re egregious offenders and repeat offenders.”

Tomlin had discussed his goal for the return game with the team before the game. He wanted to see improvement there, in the running game, and third-down defense. And he got just about everything for which he had asked.

The Steelers improved their 3.0 run game with a 5.8 performance, their 49.2 defensive third-down percentage with a 38 percent rate, and their 27.0 kickoff return average with a 30.5 performance against the Bengals.

The only miss was from the 8.4 punt-return unit, which averaged only 3.3 per return in Cincinnati thanks to penalties.

In the key NFL offensive statistical rankings, the Steelers are 11th in yards per game, 17th points per game, 6th passing yards per game, and 32nd in per-carry average.

Defensively, the Steelers are 2nd in yards per game, 12th iu points per game, 19th in per-carry rushing, and 2nd in pass yards per game (19th in passer rating, 24th in sacks).

On the injury front, Tomlin expects center Maurkice Pouncey (MCL sprain) to practice Wednesday and play Sunday at home against the Washington Redskins.